Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty: Director's Cut
June 24th, 2003: Summer Break My name is Timothy, and I just finished my Freshmen year at Barry Goldwater High School, while my 8 year old sister, Rachael was done with Second Grade. We were watching Ed, Edd, n' Eddy on Cartoon Network, when it cut to a commercial break. Sometime after the Geico Commercial called "Warmblooded Employees", there was one saying, "Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty is re-releasing for seven weeks as a Director's Cut, experience the film like never before. Screenings available in select cities." The strange thing about the commercial, was that it was not narrated by Mark Elliot the usual narrator for a commercial for Disney movies. Since Rachael loved Disney Princesses, I went on the computer to go on the AMC Theaters website I looked at AMC Deer Valley 30's showtime list, and I scrolled down the Showtimes list for June 25, until I came across one saying, Sleeping Beauty: Director's Cut: 11:15am, later that night, I asked my dad if he could drop me and Rachael off to see Sleeping Beauty at AMC Deer Valley 30 and he said yes. Afterwards, we all went to bed. The next day: Early that morning our mom went to work, while our dad took us to McDonald's for breakfast. We got to the theatre, our dad spoke to the box office manager, "One adult and one child for Sleeping Beauty at 11:15am." He handed us the tickets and a $50 bill saying, "If you two get hungry you two can eat at Rubio's, but if you two ever get bored, you can see another movie, have fun." We thanked him. The ticket stubs stated that Sleeping Beauty is in auditorium #16, meanwhile there was an usher who looked traumatized and shocked with fear and he asked us, "Are you two seeing the Director's Cut of Sleeping Beauty?" We told him, "Yes, why?" Then he said, "What you are about to see will haunt you for life." We went in not believing him, but when we got in, the auditorium was empty which was out of the ordinary for a popular Disney film or any film playing in a large auditorium. We sat in the stadium seats. The AMC "Coming Soon" bumper from 2002 to 2009 started along with the previews for upcoming movies like, Freaky Friday, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Elf, Big Fish, School of Rock, and Brother Bear. Then the Feature Presentation logo came on, along with the film. The Walt Disney Pictures logo came on, but near the end of the logo, we noticed that the tune was off-key. Then the opening credits came on, but the song, "Once Upon a Dream" was completely absent and instead of the trademark look of the opening titles that we fans have all come to know, the titles appeared in dull, block shaped letters. Then it cuts to the book, but the shot just froze on the book, I couldn't hear Marvin Miller aka the narrator's voice. Then it cut to Aurora's christening where Maleficent places a curse that when the sun sets on Princess Aurora's 16th Birthday, she would prick her finger on the spindle of the spinning wheel and die. The scene then cuts to King Stefan ordering his guards to kill Maleficent, and I thought, "That's not what he said in the original film." Then it cuts to the scene where Princess Aurora is in the forest singing, "I Wonder", I thought, " This was pretty late in the film." But the shocking thing was that there was no audio whatsoever. Only the sound of grainy footage can be heard, increasing the terrifying nature of the film. Then we jump to the scene where Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather tell Aurora that she is gonna marry Prince Phillip, and that she would not see that man who she met in the forest ever again, then Aurora runs into her room to cry on her bed, but, the terrifying thing was it did not sound like cartoon crying, it sounded as if Mary Costa the voice of Aurora was actually crying. Then it cut to Aurora, this time in a blue gown and she was in her room at castle, but she was still crying, as a breeze through a forest can be heard. Then it cuts to a black and white mage of a forest that resembles the Kaibab National Forest in Williams, Arizona. But in the image, there was a girl who looked similar to Princess Aurora. She was staring at us in a gloomy fashion this almost made Rachael hide under the seats. The audio is once again lost, and the quality of the footage goes from mediocre to absolute crap. Then it cuts back to Aurora who had pink eyes from crying and she said, "What is the point of living?" The scary thing was her voice did not sound like Mary Costa at all she continued on, "I am betrothed to Prince Phillip but there was a man in the forest who loved me." She began to sob again, then said tearfully, "I need to end it all." Then I thought to myself, "I don't remember Maleficent placing a suicide curse on her." Aurora walked towards the spinning wheel and a voice says, "Do it!" Then Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather find Aurora, Maleficent appears and says to them, "You poor simple fools, thinking you could defeat me, me the mistress of all evil, well here is your precious princess." The three fairies looked in horror at Aurora's corpse as it lies on the floor. Then Maleficent sends a green substance that looks similar to a swarm of fireflies to eat away at the three fairies, and says to them, "As for you three, you shall die." When she said that line, it did not sound like the voice of Eleanor Audley. Then the substance eats Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather like a swarm of piranhas eating three carrots causing them to disappear into fairy dust. Then it cuts to the forest where Prince Phillip is riding on his horse named Samson to the woodcutter's cottage in the Glen. Then he sees Aurora in her Briar Rose outfit saying, "You remembered to come." When she went up to hug him, Phillip began to feel the death touch which means it was Maleficent in disguise as she laughs so hard like a maniac that it would give Eleanor Audley vocal polyps. Then a timecard appeared that said "One Month Later". A funeral was being held for Princess Aurora, Prince Phillip, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. The most eerie aspect about them is that they show no signs of decomposition; it’s as if they died the day before. The last few seconds of the scene show a zoom in of their faces. Then the film ends with a slow and sad version of "Hail to the Princess Aurora" playing. Rachael was crying and I was comforting her as we walked out of the auditorium. We told customer service about the movie and what did they do? They examined the 70mm reel for Sleeping Beauty: Director's Cut, removed the strip, and ripped it up .They apologized to us for any inconvenience and we went to have lunch at Rubio's. After that, we decided to see a 4:30pm showing of Hulk (2003) in auditorium #26, which made us feel better. I have this single warning for all of those who are reading this: If you find a showtime for Sleeping Beauty: Director's Cut, or a copy of the director's cut, do not under any circumstances watch it, in hopes to prevent anyone else from viewing it. As for now, we can only hope that the director's cut is never discovered again. If it is found, however, I can only hope that the individual has read this warning beforehand, and will destroy the director's cut out of fear and safety. But if you disobey my warning and you see the director's cut in its entirety, then it is safe to say it's already too late for you, because your childhood is dead. Category:Disney Category:Lost Episodes